The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, and David Beard.
Leading Off
● PA-Gov: This fucking guy. Earlier this year, wealthy state Sen. Scott Wagner, a Republican who's running for governor of Pennsylvania, was captured on tape assaulting a tracker, revealing himself as a violent thug. Now he's gotten mixed up with a tracker again, and in this latest video recorded a week ago, he's revealed himself as an anti-Semite:
Wagner: And Mr. Soros, I would be like …. You know what's amazing that a guy who came from Hungary—a Hungarian Jew—made a fortune. Think where he came from, and he has an opinion of America that he does. It's just amazing to me.
Tracker: Because of his ethnicity?
Wagner: No, because of his hatred for America.
Wagner then immediately tried to cover his own ass in the most pathetic, tried-and-untrue way, literally saying, "I have a lot of friends that are Jewish friends." And it gets worse. When the Philadelphia Inquirer called him on his remarks, Wagner offered another defense: "I'm trying to bring a little humor into it."
Oh, so it was "just" a joke? First off, that's total bullshit. Watch the video—there isn't the slightest hint of mirth in Wagner's delivery. But that's also utterly beside the point, because supposed "jokes" can be extremely hateful—we've all, unfortunately, heard racist jokes. Is it any wonder that Wagner's not only a huge Trump fan but has even directly compared himself to Trump? The only proper response here is an apology, but of course, none has been forthcoming.
Senate
● AL-Sen: On behalf of the Senate Leadership Fund, a well-funded super PAC allied with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the GOP firm Voter Surveys & Consulting is out with a poll of the Sept. 26 Republican runoff. They give ex-state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore a 45-41 lead over appointed Sen. Luther Strange, who has SLF's support.
Campaign Action
It's not at all a great sign for Strange that even his allies are dropping a poll showing him down. However, JMC and Opinion Savvy recently released surveys showing Moore ahead 51-32 and 50-32 respectively, so a 4-point deficit looks absolutely peachy by comparison. The SLF will spend millions to help Strange across the finish line while Moore has little money or outside support, so if the PAC's poll is close to the mark, Strange could very well make up the ground. But if Strange really is close to 20 points down, there may only be so much his deep-pocketed friends can do to save him.
● PA-Sen: Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jonathan Tamari, citing two unnamed Pennsylvania Republican sources, says that GOP Rep. Lou Barletta "is expected" to kick off his campaign against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey this week. Barletta himself has been publicly considering a bid, and a few weeks ago, the AP reported that he'd told party leaders he would run. Four other notable Republicans are already in the race, though none have much of a profile. In a big state like Pennsylvania, though, Barletta wouldn't start with much name recognition either.
Gubernatorial
● AL-Gov: Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who was elevated to her current post when then-Gov. Robert Bentley resigned in disgrace in April, has been very cagey about whether she'll seek a full term in her own right. About a week ago, though, she quietly filed paperwork with the secretary of state's office to create a campaign committee—a development that has only just now emerged. A recent report also said that Ivey was privately telling allies she'd run, but publicly, an Ivey spokesman would only say that the governor "continues to seriously consider her future."
But while Ivey has been contemplating life, the universe, and everything, a large number of notable Republican rivals (five, at last count) have already entered the race. Could she have forestalled them by announcing earlier? Perhaps not: Ambitious Alabama Republicans had long been waiting for the 2018 elections because Bentley was going to be termed-out, and many have no interest in deferring to Ivey just because she received an unexpected early promotion. But Ivey's never offered an explanation for her hesitancy beyond saying she wants to "steady the ship of state" following Bentley's dramatic implosion.
● FL-Gov: While wealthy Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine expressed interest in running for governor as an independent in May, he seems to have closed the door on that idea. On Thursday, Levine told a gathering of Pinellas County Democrats that he's "[f]ought for the Democratic cause. Fought for the Democratic mission. Fought for the Democratic Party," and he donated $1,000 to the county party for good measure.
A self-described "radical centrist," Levine has been reluctant to criticize Donald Trump, and has even praised him on Fox, but he sung a different tune at the Democratic event. Levine declared that Trump was "a poor president who's not going to get any better" and told the Tampa Bay Times that Trump is "a fraud" who "was born on the 50th floor, made it to the penthouse and has been a fraudulent businessman his entire life." However, Levine added that he doesn't "think you create change by spending all your energy attacking the president. I'd rather spend my energy on Florida." Levine also told the paper that he would decide on a bid for governor in November, a bit later than the Labor Day deadline his spokesman committed to last month, and reporter Adam Smith says it's "likely" Levine will run.
As we've noted before, Levine's public profile is distressingly very Trump-like. He even wondered aloud earlier this year, "Why aren't we discussing the invasion" of Cuba, in what a spokesperson later claimed was a joke. Levine also loves to portray himself as a post-partisan, something that doesn't exactly resonate with most primary voters.
But if Levine runs, he will have one huge advantage in this very expensive state. Levine's allied political committee has already raised $2 million from donors, including from developers and wealthy friends, and he's invested another $2.6 million from his own considerable coffers. Three other Democrats are also seeking their party's nod: Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, ex-Rep. Gwen Graham, and real estate company owner Chris King.
● GA-Gov: Stacey Abrams, one of two prominent Democrats running for Georgia's open governorship next year, has resigned from the state House in order to concentrate on her gubernatorial campaign. Previously, Abrams had stepped down from her role as the Democrats' minority leader in the chamber for the same reason. Abrams faces state Rep. Stacey Evans in the primary, while a quartet of four notable Republicans are vying for their party's nomination: Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, and state Sens. Hunter Hill and Michael Williams.
House
● KS-03: Businessman Jay Sidie, who lost to GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder 51-41 last year, had been soliciting supporters for donations for a rematch for quite some time, but only now has he finally uttered the words "I'm running" in public. Attorney Andrea Ramsay is the only other notable Democrat running in Kansas' 3rd Congressional District, which is located in the Kansas City suburbs and swung from 54-44 Romney to 47-46 Clinton.
● NY-01: Physicist Elaine DiMasi, who'd been weighing a bid against GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin in New York's 1st Congressional District, left her position at Brookhaven National Laboratory late last month and has now entered the race. That makes her the third Democrat in the field, along with businessman Perry Gershon and former Suffolk County Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher, though two other bigger names are still considering: Assemblyman Fred Thiele and Suffolk County Legislator Kate Browning. The 1st went for Trump 55-42 last year after backing Barack Obama by half a point in 2012.
Legislative
● TX Redistricting: Following the recent federal court ruling that struck down Texas' GOP-drawn congressional map for intentionally discriminating against Latino voters, the same three-judge panel has now ruled that Republicans also engaged in intentional discrimination in drawing the lines for the state House and has ordered nine districts redrawn. A remedial map should increase Democratic (and Latino) representation in the chamber, though Republicans currently have an imposing 95-55 advantage that won't shift much even with new districts.
Just as important as the ruling itself is the fact that this is now the third time in just over a week that federal courts have concluded that Texas Republicans engaged in intentional discrimination against minorities in crafting their election laws. It's also the fifth such occasion this year alone and the eighth since 2011, the year litigation over these very maps commenced. Such repeated findings of discrimination could lead to any further changes in state voting laws being brought back under heightened scrutiny by the Department of Justice. While such an effort would be irrelevant under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, of course, it could have a big impact on the next round of redistricting if Democrats can retake the White House in 2020.
Mayoral
● St. Petersburg, FL Mayor: On Friday, just ahead of Tuesday's nonpartisan primary, Barack Obama endorsed Democratic Mayor Rick Kriseman. This is the first time that Obama has gotten involved in a seriously contested mayoral race since he left the White House. Kriseman faces a tough challenge from ex-Mayor Rick Baker, who is one of the rare Republicans who has a solid base of support with black voters. If no one takes a majority on Tuesday, the top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 7 general election. A recent St. Pete Polls survey gave Baker a 47-40 lead over Kriseman, just a few points shy of the majority he needs to win outright.
Other Races
● Nassau County, NY Executive: Republican Ed Mangano, who leads this large Long Island county, was indicted last year on corruption charges, and he will go on trial in January. But no matter what happens in the courtroom, Mangano will not be county executive next year. While Mangano flirted with running on an independent ballot line, the deadline passed Tuesday. Mangano had already declined to run for a third term as a Republican, so this was his last chance to seek re-election.
The Nassau GOP has already consolidated behind ex-state Sen. Jack Martins, who lost a bid last year for Congress to Tom Suozzi (who had been county executive until Mangano upset him in 2009), and he faces no primary opposition. On the Democratic side, the county party has endorsed county Legislator Laura Curran. Curran faces a primary challenge on Sept. 12 from county Comptroller George Maragos, who left the GOP last year.
Grab Bag
● Deaths: Cecil Andrus, Idaho's last Democratic governor, died on Thursday, one day before his 86th birthday. Andrus first sought elected office in 1960 at the age of 28 after his Republican state senator opposed Andrus' calls for more money for a public kindergarten. Andrus later recalled the senator saying, "Well, this school system was good enough for me, it's good enough for your kids," to which Andrus replied, "It's pretty obvious, Senator, that the school system wasn't even good enough for you." Andrus' victory that year made him the youngest member ever elected to the Idaho legislature. During his governorship, the legislature would approve a bill to finance an optional public kindergarten program.
Andrus ran for governor in 1966 and lost the primary 41-39 to attorney Charles Herndon. But after Herndon died in a plane crash during the campaign, Andrus was chosen as his replacement, though he lost the general election to Republican Don Samuelson 41-37 that fall. In 1970, Andrus challenged Samuelson again, this time making opposition to building a molybdenum mine in the White Cloud Mountains a central part of his campaign, and he won 52-48. The mine was never built, and Andrus won re-election by an overwhelming 71-26 margin in 1974.
The governor resigned in 1977 to become Jimmy Carter's secretary of the interior, and he was succeeded by his lieutenant governor, Democrat John Evans. After Carter lost re-election in 1980 but before Ronald Reagan took office, Andrus led the successful effort to set aside more than 100 million acres in Alaska for federal protection in what became known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR.
After returning to Idaho and serving as a spokesman for the aluminum industry, Andrus made the surprising decision to run for governor again in 1986 to succeed Evans. Andrus made education funding a major issue in his comeback bid, but he faced opposition from the NRA. Andrus narrowly beat GOP Lt. Gov. David Leroy (who is currently running for the state's open 1st Congressional District) 50-49.
During his second stint in office, Andrus and the GOP-led state legislature got into what the Idaho Statesman describes as a "bidding war" to increase education funding. Andrus also notably used state troopers to block a railroad car filled with nuclear waste from entering a state storage site. In 1990, Andrus vetoed a bill that would have instituted one of the strictest bans on abortion, saying that while he opposed abortion in most cases, he thought the bill went too far. That same year, he won his fourth and final term 68-32.
Andrus decided to leave office in 1994, and while his initial 1970 victory ushered in 24 years of Democratic control of the governor's office, Republicans have been in charge ever since. Andrus remained active in Democratic politics, and in 2008 he campaigned for Barack Obama at the state's Democratic caucus, declaring, "Some would suggest I'm in the twilight of a mediocre political career. But I like you and I still have hope!"
● Statehouse Action: This Week in Statehouse Action: Losersayswhat edition has it all: Idaho Republicans saying terrible and crazy things; Virginia Republicans calling Ralph Northam a race traitor, basically; North Carolina Republicans swapping racial gerrymandering out for partisan gerrymandering (and no, they're not interested in your opinion on the subject); good news for progressives in Missouri and Rhode Island; and more!
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